Vertically adjustable sliding door hanger



Aug. 14,

FIG. 1.

C. A. TUCKER ETAL VERTICALLY ADJUSTABLE SLIDING DOOR HANGER Filed Jan.25, 1961 IN VEMTORS COUNCIL A. TUcKE/e,

Ross/27- 5R YDOLF BY THE/,2 ATTORNEYS HARRIS, K/ECH, RUSSELL 6c KER/v3,048,882 VERTICALLY ADJUSTABLE SLHDING DOQR HANGER Council A. Tucker,Glendale, and Robert Brydolf, Pasadena, Calif, assignors to AcmeAppliance Manufacturing Company, Monrovia, Calif, a corporation ofCalifornia Filed Jan. 23, 1961, Ser. No. 84,031 Claims. (Cl. 16105) Thepresent invention rel-ates to a vertically adjustable sliding doorhanger and a primary object of the invention is to provide a slidingdoor hanger of simple construction which may be mounted on a slidingdoor simply and easily without drilling any hole in the door for anadjustment bolt, or the like, which may readily be adjusted to raise orlower the door even in a pocket-type of installation, which may beadjusted by means of a wrench pivoting about a horizontal axis at apoint adjacent the track for supporting the door, which is self lookingso that no separate locking means for maintaining the desired adjustmentis necessary, which may be adjusted to raise or lower the door at anytime after the installation of the door has been completed withoutremoving the door stops, which may be adjusted through a wide range sothat carpeting can be laid under the door after the originalinstallation of the door without trimming the door or removing the doorstop-s, and the like.

More particularly, an important object of the invention is to provide avertically adjustable sliding door hanger which includes a mountingmember having means thereon for attachment to the door, a hanger memberhaving means thereon for engagement with a track, an inclined rack onone of the members, a pinion rotatably mounted on the other of themembers about a transverse horizontal axis and meshed with the rack, andinclined guide means on the members and generally parallel to the rackfor guiding the members for relative movement along an inclinedadjustment path generally parallel to the rack.

Another object is to provide a vertically adjustable sliding door hangerof the foregoing nature wherein the angles of inclination of the rack,the guide means and the adjustment path from the horizontal arerelatively small, and in any event less than 45 and wherein the guidemeans has friction means associated therewith for frictionally resistingrelative movement of the members along the adjustment path. With thisconstruction, the hanger will automatically maintain its adjustmentwithout any separate locking means, which is an important feature.

Another object is to provide a sliding door hanger of the foregoingnature wherein the inclined rack is formed by a toothed edge of aninclined rack slot in one of the members, the pinion on the other memberbeing disposed in the rack slot and being meshed with the rack formed byone edge thereof.

Another object is to provide an inclined guide means comprising aninclined guide slot in one of the members spaced from and generallyparallel to the rack slot, the guide means also including a guideelement movable in the guide slot.

A further object is to provide a sliding door hanger wherein the angleof inclination of the guide slot from the horizontal exceeds the angleof inclination of the rack therefrom, and wherein the track engageablemeans on the hanger member is adjacent the guide slot. With thisconstruction, the greater inclination of the guide slot results in agreater vertical range of travel for the track engageable means thanwould be the case if the guide slot were exactly parallel to the rack.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a sliding door hangerwherein the means for frictionally resisting relative movement of themembers along the inclined 3,048,882 Patented Aug. 14, 1962 iceadjustment path is frictionally engageable with the member in which theguide slot is formed adjacent the edges of the guide slot.

Still another object is to provide a nut for rotating the pinion whichmay readily be turned with a wrench, or the like, even in a pocket-typeinstallation.

The foregoing objects, advantages, features and results of the presentinvention, together with various other objects, advantages, features andresults thereof which will be evident to those skilled in the art in thelight of this disclosure, may be achieved with the exemplary embodimentof the invention described in detail hereinafter and illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a transverse sectional view of a pocket-type sliding doorinstallation including an overhead track having a sliding door hungtherefrom by vertically adjustable sliding door hangers of theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of a vertically adjustable slidingdoor hanger of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the arrowed line 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the vertically adjustable sliding doorhanger of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the vertically adjustable slidingdoor hanger of the invention, taken from the opposite side from FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the arrowed line 66of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an isometric view of a hanger member of the invention; and

FIG. 8 is an isometric view of a mounting member of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawing, the numeral 10 designates apocket-type header structure provided therein with a pocket 11containing an overhead track 12 from which is hung a door 16 by twovertically adjustable sliding door hangers 20, only one being visible.The two hangers 20 are identical so that only one will be considered.

Each hanger 20 includes a mounting member 24 which, as best shown inFIG. 8, includes a horizontal flange 26 and a vertical flange 28. Thehorizontal flange 26 is seated on the upper end of the door 16 and issecured thereto by two screws 30, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Thus, thehanger 20 is simply and easily attached to the door 16, which is animportant feature.

The vertical flange 28 of the mounting member 24 is provided thereinwith spaced, generally parallel, inclined rack and guide slots 32 and34, the rack slot being provided with a smooth edge 36 and beingprovided with a toothed edge forming a rack 38. Preferably, the guideslot 34 makes a slightly greater angle with the horizontal than the rackslot 32 for a reason to be explained. As will be discussed hereinafter,the angles of inclination of the rack and guide slots 32 and 34 from thehorizontal are relatively small so as to render the hanger 2!) selflocking. The angles of inclination of the rack and guide slots 32 and 34from the horizontal are less than 45, and are preferably in the range offrom 20 to 30. Merely by way of example, the angle of inclination of therack slot 32 from horizontal may be a little more than 20 and the angleof inclination of the guide slot 34 from the horizontal may beapproximately 30. However, while it is important that the angles ofinclination of the rack and guide slots 32 and 34 be relatively small,and in any event less than 45 it will be understood that the exactvalues mentioned are not critical.

The hanger 20 also includes a hanger member 40 which is generallytriangular in elevation and which bears against the vertical flange 28of the mounting member 24 above the horizontal flange 26 of the latter.One of the lower apices of the hanger member 46) is providedtherethrough with an opening in which is journaled a pinion 42. Thispinion is disposed in the rack slot 32 and is meshed with the rack 38,meshing engagement between the pinion and the rack being maintained by atab 44 on the hanger member 40 which is slidable along the smooth edge36 of the rack slot 32. Formed integrally with the pinion 42 on theopposite side of the vertical flange 28 from the hanger member 40 is anut 46 by means of which the pinion may be rotated, as with a wrench 47,FIG. 1, to cause relative movement of the mounting and hanger members 24and 40 along an inclined adjustment path generally parallel to the rackand guide slots 32 and 34, the exact angle of inclination of theadjustment path from the horizontal being determined by the exact anglesselected for the rack and guide slots. Preferably, a washer 48 isinserted between the nut 46 and the vertical flange 28 of the mountingmember 24.

The other lower apex of the generally triangular hanger member 40 isprovided with an opening therethrough for a guide element or pin 50which is slidable in the guide slot 34. The guide pin 50 is headed atboth ends and inserted under the head at one end thereof is a washer 52which frictionally engages the vertical flange 28 of the mounting member24 on opposite sides of the guide slot 34 therein. Under the head at theother end of the guide pin 50 is inserted a spring washer 54 whichresiliently urges the washer 52 into frictional engagement with themounting member 24.

As will be apparent, the washer 52 frictionally resists relativemovement of the mounting and hanger members 24 and 40 along the inclinedadjustment path as the pinion 42 is rotated by means of the nut 46. Thisfrictional resistance, coupled with the relatively small inclinations ofthe rack and guide slots 32 and 34, makes the hanger 20, in effect, selflocking. In other Words, the mounting and hanger members 24 and 40 willremain in the relative positions to which they are adjusted without anyseparate locking means, which is an important feature.

The upper apex of the generally triangular hanger member 40 is providedtherein with a hole for a pivot pin 56 which pivotally connects to thehanger member 40 a track engageable means comprising two Wheels 58respectively rotatably mounted on the ends of a rocker arm 60, the pivotpin 56 pivotally connecting the midpoint of the rocker arm to the hangermember. With this construction, uniform weight distribution between thetwo wheels 58 is assured.

The hanger member 40 terminates at its upper apex in a tab 62 whichprojects over the rocker arm 60 above the pivot pin 56 and which thuslimits pivotal movement of the rocker arm relative to the hanger member.

Considering the operatoin of the hanger 20 of the invention, it Will beapparent that all that is necessary to adjust the door 16 vertically isto rotate the pinion 42 in the proper direction. This can be done veryeasily by means of the wrench 47 in a single operation at any time afterthe door installation has been completed. Since the hanger 20automatically maintains the desired adjustment, it is not necessary toactuate any separate locking means. Also, since the hanger 20 can beadjusted with the door 16 in place, it is not necessary to remove anydoor stops, loosen any screws, or the like.

As previously mentioned, the angle of inclination of the guide slot 34from the horizontal is preferably slightly greater than the angle ofinclination of the rack slot 32. This feature, coupled with the factthat the pivot pin 56 for the rocker arm 60 is located generally abovethe guide pin means that the pivot pin 56 moves vertically, as thepinion 42 moves along the rack 38, through a greater range than would bethe case if the guide slot 34 were parallel to the rack slot 32, or wereinclined at a lesser angle than the rack slot. With the particularstructure shown, which is shown approximately full scale, the hangermember 40 may be adjusted vertically relative to the mounting member 24through a range of more than one-half inch. With this range of verticaladjustment, it is possible to lay carpeting under the door 16 at anytime subsequent to installation of the doors, and the carpeting can beaccommodated by the adjustable hanger 26 without any trimming of thedoor.

Although .an exemplary embodiment of the invention has been disclosedfor purposes of illustration, it will be understood that variouschanges, modifications and substitutions may be incorporated in suchembodiment without departing from the spirit of the invention as definedby the claims which follow.

We claim:

1. In a vertically adjustable sliding door hanger, the

combination of:

(a) a mounting member having means for attachment to a door;

(b) a hanger member having means for engagement with a track;

(0) one of said members having an inclined main slot therein;

(d) one edge of said main slot being provided with teeth constituting arack;

(e) a pinion rotatably mounted on the other of said members and disposedin said main slot and meshed with said rack;

(f) inclined, interengageable guide means on said members for guidingsaid members for relative movement along an inclined path generallyparallel to said rack;

(g) said guide means including an inclined guide slot in one of saidmembers spaced from and generally parallel to said main slot andincluding a guide element on the other of said members movable in andengageable with the edges of said guide slot; and (h) said guide meansfurther including the edge of said main slot which is opposite said rackand further including another guide element engageable with and movablealong said opposite edge of said main slot and carried by that one ofsaid members,

other thanthe one in which said main slot is formed.

2. In a vertically .adjustable sliding door hanger, the

combination of:

(a) a mounting member having means for attachment to a door;

(b) a hanger member having means for engagement with a track;

(0) said mounting member having an inclined main slot therein;

(d) one edge of said main slot being provided with teeth constituting arack;

(e) a pinion rotatably mounted on said hanger memher and disposed insaid main slot and meshed with said rack;

(f) inclined, interengageable guide means on said members for guidingsaid members for relative movement along an inclined path generallyparallel to said rack;

(g? said guide means including an inclined guide slot in said mountingmember spaced from and generally parallel to said main slot therein andincludmg a guide element on said hanger member movable in 51ndengageable with the edges of said guide slot; an

(11) said guide means further including the edge of said main slot whichis opposite said rack and further including another guide elementengageable with and movable along said opposite edge of said main slotand carried by said hanger member.

3. In a vertically adjustable sliding door hanger, the

combination of:

(a) a mounting member having means for attachment to a door;

(b) a hanger member having means for engagement with a track;

(c) said mounting member having an inclined main slot therein;

(d) one edge of said main slot being provided with teeth constituting arack;

(e) a pinion rotatably mounted on said hanger member and disposed insaid main slot and meshed with said rack;

(f) inclined, interengageable guide means on said members for guidingsaid members for relative movement along an inclined path generallyparallel to said rack;

(g) said guide means including an inclined guide slot in said mountingmember spaced from and generally parallel to said main slot therein andincluding a guide element on said hanger member movable in andengageable with the edges of said guide slot;

(It) said guide means further including the edge of said main slot whichis opposite said rack and further including another guide elementengageable with and movable along said opposite edge of said main slotand carried by said hanger member; and

(i) an adjusting element directly connected to and rotatable about theaxis of rotation of said pinion.

4. In a vertically adjustable sliding door hanger, the

combination of:

(a) a mounting member having means for attachment to a door;

(b) a hanger member having means for engagement with a track;

(0) said mounting member having an inclined main slot therein;

(d) one edge of said main slot being provided with teeth constituting arack;

(e) a pinion rotatably mounted on said hanger member and disposed insaid main slot and meshed with said rack;

(f) inclined, interengagea-ble guide means on said members for guidingsaid members for relative movement along an inclined path generallyparallel to said rack;

(g) said guide means including an inclined guide slot in said mountingmember spaced from and generally parallel to said main slot therein andincluding a guide element on said hanger member movable in andengageable with the edges of said guide slot;

(11) said guide means further including the edge of said main slot whichis opposite said rack and further including another guide elementengageable with and movable along said opposite edge of said main slotand carried by said hanger member; and

(i) friction means operatively connected to the guide element firstmentioned, and frictionally engageable with said mounting memberadjacent said guide slot therein, for .frictionally resisting relativemovement of said members along said path.

5. In a vertically adjustable sliding door hanger, the

combination of (a) a mounting member having means for attachment to adoor;

(b) a hanger member having means for engagement with a track;

(c) said mounting member having an inclined main slot therein;

(11) one edge of said main slot being provided with teeth constituting arack;

(e) a pinion rotatably mounted on said hanger member and disposed insaid main slot and meshed with said rack;

(f) inclined, interengageable guide means on said members for guidingsaid members for relative movement along an inclined path generallyparallel to said rack;

(g) said guide means including an inclined guide slot in said mountingmember spaced from and generally parallel to said main slot therein andincluding a guide element on said hanger member movable in andengageable with the edges of said guide slot;

(h) said guide means further including the edge of said main slot whichis opposite said rack and turther including another guide elementengageable with and movable along said opposite edge of said main slotand carried \by said hanger member; and

(i) the inclination of said guide slot from the horizontal exceeding theinclination of said main slot therefrom.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS216,702 Roberts June 17, 1879 241,882 Richards May 24, 1881 844,467Prouty Feb. 19, 1907 904,393 Worden Nov. 17, 1908 906,514 Dengler Dec.15, 1908 2,848,783 Keeler et al. Aug. 26, 1958

